158 Tlie OPTIMIST October 1923
News From the RidesOini FHOX'J' ('OWAl
'riii.s unusually fine ]jliotogra])h of a
BKJ ELI Xo. 5, 1922 Model which we
present this nioiitli J'or the cover of the
OPTIMIST is the pro])erty of Henry
Heyn. We are always more or less
anxious each month to receive photo-
graphs for the front cover. We are cer-
tainly very fortunate this month in re-
ceiiving this excellejit photograph of
Henry Heyn's No. 5 BIG ELI. Mr.
Heyn is playing in Canada this year with
the International Amusement Company,
and as the readers will note from the
photograph that the AVheel was playing
to capacity husiness when the photo-
graph was taken. Again we wish to
iiii])ress upon the minds of the readers
that good photographs make a good
OPTIMIST. We wish to call your at-
tention to the ELI Power Unit in the
extreme lower left of the photograph.
A¥c ha\e examined this photogra]ih care-
fully to see if our friends and neighl)ors,
the Canadians, differ greatly from our
own folks here in the States. So far as
we arc ahle to tell they look just exactly
like Americans. The Writeir loves to
think that in the one hundred years of
history there never has been a fort or a
gun to mark the l)oundary line l)et\veen
the United States and Canada. Andpersonally we hope there never will he.
And in the name of humanity why should
there he?
AVe are always glad to hear froui our
cuslomers in foreign lands as it denotes
the universality of the BIG ELI husi-
ness. -lust rtM'cntly we received a com-
miinicnlion from one of our customers
in Iionil)ay, India.
Ben O. Poodhouse,
ELI P) KM DDK C():\1PAXY,Jacksonville, 111.
My (h^ar j\Ir. Poodhouse:
I received youi' letter dated ^Fay 21th
on June 22n(l. I am glad to hear that
Mr. Sullivan is impnning in health, and
I hope nu^st sincerely that he will he
fully restored by the time this letter
reaehes you.
]\Iany thanks for the trouble you are
taking for the safe delivery of good.';
sent to me and your other customers.
Here in Bombay our Government im-
posed an Amusement tax of 12 1-2 cents
on every amusement device and cinemas,
theatre-, etc. But fortunately we are
excluded from the tax, our charges be-
ing very low.
Our rainy season began on the 12th
of the current month but after falling
for a few days the rains have altogether
sto})ped. Xow it is very warm here.
Several days ago three gentlemen from
Poona vi-ited me at my place to see myP>1G ELI. They inquired about the
Wheel and I told them everything I
could and advised them to buy one from
your company. I also told them that I
would elect this Wheel for them free
of all charge. I have given them your
address and they may perhaps write you.
AVith l)est wi.<hes, I amSincerelv vours,
X. E."^ BHAKUCHA.Bombay, India.
Here is just a little news from the At-
lantic Seaport. We have the following
letter from the Lew Dufour Exposition:
ELI BPIDGE COMPAXY,Jacksonville, 111.
Gentlemen
:
Kindly slii]) at once '"and then follows
a nict' order for repairs and supplies for
the IHG ELI Wheel, the Writer con-
tinues." Kindly rush this order at once
to Waterville, Maine. Thanking you in
advance for your prompt attention. I am.
Yours verv trulv.
LEW DrFOUR.Care The Lew Dufour Exposition.
P. S.—The Ferris Wheel is doing very
well at this Fair. Yesterdav it took in
.$:V.'<.nO.
Peliahle.
agement of Mr
It ha< always been the ''Old
The Wheel is under the man-Fred Lawver.
TKe OPTIMIST 159
On this i)a<r<' we j»resc'nt tin- jilioto-
graph of tlu' BKJ ELI and Mt-rrv-jro-
roiind belonjxin^' to Voun;: Hmtln'is.
You will note tliis is a vt-ry fine jjhoto-
ilio Editor of ilie Ol'TlMIST certain-
ly a|i|tn'(iates the j»hoto;ira|»hs whi«-h
the S'oiin;; Brothers sent to us of their
Ferris WIhhI and .Merry-p)-round. You
^ C
\ouii^ itrttthcD*' Ki(lf8
grajdi of the BKi ELI. This plioto-
graj)!! was taken at Solmnan. Kjinsas, in
June, 1!''^;{. We reeeived the foUowini;
coniniunieation from Alex Young onAugust 8th:
ELI HIMIXJE COM PAW.JaeksouN ilif. III.
Gentlemen :
Keeeived your little gift with manythanks. We did not expeet any prem-iums on our July 4th contest, hut a per-
son cannot always tell just what is goingto ha|)pen, hut we take an interest in tlu*
4th of July contest and want to con-
tribute our pari in making it a success.
We realize that w»' canno< always play a
red one. I am sending tho.xe photo-
graphs 1 ni'irlf'ctfd to mail sonn; time
ago.
Yours verv trulv,
.\LEX Y()l-X(;.
I{<*linhl<> Power nieatm
will also note on a different page thatwe have a |)hot«>gra|ih of the crew or-Managers uf the Young Brothers' rides.
We have repeatedly tried to impre.<i^
upon tin- minds of the r'-adcrs of theOI'TI.MIST that the Ol'TI.MIST is not
published for jirofit an<l that you can-
not buy it as there is no subscription
jtrice. And we a|>|treciate the fact that
souH' of ojir friencls are assisting us in
building u|i ilic mailing list of thenl'TLMlS'l'. W.' received the following
letter from Mr. Ix>slie Bodnar:
ELI BIMIXiE ( nMlVWV.Jacksonville. III.
'IcntleuH'ii :
I am sending you names of rid«' own-ers who would like to receive the OI'TI-iiii-i. Personally, I certainly enjoyicatliiig it as it has very good articK's
the FI.I Power Inil
160 TEe OPTIMIST October 1923
that are worth reading and considering.
The season for the BIG ELI Wheel has
been good thus far, but the best of the
season is ahead and I hope for much bet-
ter business, (which l)y the way, the
BIG ELI Wheel always gets). I nowown a Whip which is also a money-getter. Wishing you a successful season,
I remain,
Yours truly,
LESLIE BODNAE.
Mr. Ray Gooding, BIG ELI Operator
We take pleasure in presenting the
photograph of Mr. Kay Gooding, son of
L. S. Gooding. How is this for a four-
teen year old BIG ELI Operator? L. S.
tolls us that Kay is a "live wire,"' andthat was not necessary because from the
physique of this young man he looks like
he could whip a couple of Jack Demp-
seys. We have never met this gentle-
man and if we should, we are absolutely
sure that wo are not going to start anargument. If this young man keeps ondeveloping until he is twenty-one years
old and the Editor ever has any diffi-
culties to settle with him, he is going to
do it over the Kadio. We know just howMr. Gooding feels about Kay because wehave a chap Just about his build and size
of our own..Airwelcome
The OPTIMIST is glad to
Kav Gooding into the
Family of the BIG ELI.
There seems to be a scarcity of opera-
tors for BIG ELI Wheels. Thruout the
season of 1923 we have received letters,
telegrams and also personal visits fromowners of BIG ELI Wheels who were
in search of good reliable operators. Wedo not understand Just why this should
be but this seems to be the case.
We received a letter from Mr. K. E.
Barnett of the McClellan Shows recently
in which he says
:
ELI BRIDGE COMPANY,Jacksonville, 111.
Gentlemen
:
Your letter came today and contents
noted and was indeed glad to hear fromyou. I had an ad in the Billboard last
week for an operator and as a result a
Mr. Joe Gavins is over here now and is
a real operator. He came from Wichita.
as he had left a Mr. Prince there three
weeks ago. So far I like him just fine
and ho]ie he will stay with me. He sends
his best regards to the BIG ELI Factory.
Your repairs were here for me Alondayand I thank you for this excellent serv-
ice. Our Fairs start at Rolla, Alissouri,
next week and am truly sorry
will be unable to visit us here
want to see y<ni and trust youus later.
Very truly yours,
K. E. BAKXETT,Care McClellan Shows
that vouWe all
can visit
Don't say Ferris wheel. Say BIG ELI \^'heel
TTie OPTIMIST 161
On tliis pajro we present the crew of
the Younij Brothers' Hides, wlio are
phiying independent. We call your spe-
cial attention to the second one from the
left and tliis is Alex Young. The third
one from the right wearing the hhick
felt hat is Arthur Young. This is anexcellent picture of the Managers of
Young Brothers' Rides, and we take
pleasure in presenting this fine looking
array of nuinagers to the riding device
pultlic. This is certainly a clean look-
ing hunch of fellows and we like them.
niont you have given me and I cannote.\j)hiin myself in a letter, but I will say
that I am more than pleased with myWheel and that I have received morethan 1 expected, and every promise wasfulfilled to the limit by your Company.I am also enclosing a picture and if youhave rodin in your OPTIMIST you canuse same, and 1 will pay for the cut after
you get through witli it. Now do notforget to keep sending me my OPTI-MIST to my home address, 209" Elm St.,
Charleston, W. Ya.
Young Brothers and Crew
Here is a letter from a satisfied custo- I hope this letter will find you all in
mer which is the BIG ELI'S greatest the very best of health and I remain,asset
:
ELI BRIDGE COMPANY,Jacksonville, 111.
Mr. Ben O. Rood house,
Dear Sir:
Your kind and welcome letter just re-
ceived. In reply will say that I will bepleased to have you use any part of myletters for the OPTIMIST and you canadd anything that you want that youthink I left out. I cannot say too muchor express my appreciation for the treat-
Yours respectfullv,
CAPT. LATLIP, Mgr.,
Capt. Lat lip's Rides.
"Dad" Wood, our old friend and for-
mer associate, has been playing South-west Missouri and reports that he hasbeen doing nice business. We expect"Dad'' Wood home before long and will
be ghul tf) have him give us a detailed
account of his travels throughout thesummer of 1923.
162 TRe OPTIMIST October 1923
It is not often tliat we receive a photo-
grapli of a BIG ELI Wheel taken from
the front side. Most photographs of
the BIG ELI Wheel are taken from tlio
side and as this photograpli is a little out
of the ordinary, we take pleasure this
month in presenting the photograph of
H. W. Taylor's No. 5 BIG ELI
the BIG ELI No. 5, the property of H.
W. Taylor. Mr. Taylor seems to be aware
of the fact tliat fine plumage makes fine
hirds and that line decorations makea fine fhish. Yon will note hy the photo-
graph tlinl Mr. Taylor has his Wheel all
(IoIIimI up. Notice the nifty ticket-box
in the immediate foreground. Mr. Taylor
writes us as follows:
ELI BRIDGE COMPANY,Jacksonville, 111.
Dear Sir:
I am sending you a picture of myWheel which ^vas taken on the -Ith of
July with my new ticket-box just com-pleted. This ticket-box fits in a crate
nine feet by two by six. The top i.s all
glass with metal panels at the bottom.The Wheel is with the Famous Wonder-land Show^s with J. F. Dehnert, Manager,and J. E. Fisher is managing the Wheel,and although the Wheel hasn't had anybig week.s, yet it has been getting its
share of the monev at all the places in
which we show. I again thank you for
the many favors shown me and I am,Y'ours as ever,
H. W. TAY^LOR.
The Morgan County Fairgrounds, lo-
cated just West of the city of Jackson-
cille, Illinois, presented a very creditable
appearance during the four days fair,
beginning August 28th and ending
August 31st. The ELI BRIDGE COM-PANY" co-operating with ]\Ir. HaroldWelch, Secretary, The Morgan CountyFair, tried every possible means to .se-
cure riding devices for tlie Fair: being
unable to do so the ELI BRIDGE CO:^!-
PANY furnished a BIG ELI No. 5,
operating same during the four days of
the Fair. Mr. Hal Graham of the Prairie
State Amusement Company also played
the ]\Iorgan County Fair with his Merry-
go-round and concessions. During the
week J\Ir. and Mrs. Graham purchased
the BIG ELI Wheel, taking possession
Friday ni<rht, August 31st. and loading
the next day for Farmer City. Illinois,
where, according to reports sent us, they
have been doing a nice business. Mr. andj\Irs. Graham, who, bv the wav, are very
estimable people, made the ELI BRIDGECOMPANY' several visits during the
Fair. The OPTDIIST is more^ than]ileased to welcome Hal and Carrie Gra-
ham into the BIG ELI Family and wish
them all the possible success.
The ELI Power Unit is Reliable
TTie OPTIMIST 163
^>v
ntHDuiLi'
Voluuir H
FRANCIS M. CRABTREK, EDITOR
A Monthly Magazine for the benefit of those
interested in tlie riding device business. Amagazine supporting clean amusements and
published in the interests of ELI BRIDGEOOMP.ANY of JACKSONVnJJ<:, ILLINOIS,
U. S. A., builders of the Famous BIG ELI
WHEELS.
W. E. SULLIVAN President
R. A. YOUNG Vice-President
LEE A. SULLIVAN Secretary-Treasurer
BEN 0. ROODHOUSE Sales Manager
Editorial
HEW TO THE LINE,LET THE CHIPS FALLWHERE THEY MAY
The ELI BUIDCtE COMPANY could
have built many more Wheels in the
twenty-three year.>^ of experience than it
has built, if the founder had yielded to
the temptation to "get while getting .was
good."' To have put less expensive ma-terial and un.'skilled labor into the build-
ing of BKi ELI Wheels would have ma-terially increased the out})ut, at the sametime it would have removed a "stone"
from the rock boiuul foundation of the
ELI BRIDGE COMP.WY in the estima-
tion of its friends. "Hew to the Line,
Let the Chips Fall Where They :May"
has cau.«ed the loss of manv a sale of a
BIG ELI WHEEL. We have the com-fort in tliis thought that this j)olicy has
helped in building a rejjutation that will
be a source of comfort and satisfaction
in the years to come, knowing that every
customer of the ELI HHIDGE COM-PANY was treated exactly alike. It is
ea-y for u.< to become unconsciously dis-
honest. One reason for unemj)loyinent
and general bad business is the fact that
—during periods of jirosperity—so fewl)eo])le gave a dollars value for the dollar
they received. While it is true that the(Jrocer no longer adulterates the sugar,
but he and we adulterate our work.
There is only one outcome for this sort
of business and that is defeat. Prosper-
ity is simply a cojnbination of natural
resources, hard work and those intangi-
ble (lualities of faith, courage and hon-esty. These qualities can be developedby sini])ly adhering to that principal laid
down thousands of years ago which maybe embodied in one clause, "DO l{l(iHT.'"
We rejoice in the fact that ^s'e are a ])art
of a Government which sells a dollars
worth of stamps for one dollar, and wehave the satisfaction of knowing that thenext man who approaches the stampwindow will ])ay one dollar for one dol-
lar's worth of stamps.
When the business world, whether it
be the riding device business, the out-
door amusement busines.s, coal ])usiness
or any other business within the con-
fines of our country, learns that that
law which says we must give a dollar's
worth of goods for a dollar and that this
law cannot be escaped nor evaded, thenthat business will be an enduring busi-
ness. The awful catastrophe in Japanreminds us that what happened theremay also baj>))en here, but this one fact
remains that the earthly building of the"House of ELL" may l)e shaken anddestroved anv moment but that iWrnn:
which endures, the faith of its customersin its integrity, will endure when earthly
houses linve bee?i destroyed. We havehad to disa])point custonu'rs. we havelost sales and many trying situations havecome u|). :dl of which have caused usmore or less inconvenience and sonu^-
times we did not understand, and at
first it did not seem to be according: to
good business ethics, yet when we lookat facts squarely we are convinced thatthe boss of the "IImih.- of ELI" has ])een
'"Hewing to the Line and Letting theChips Fall Where Thev Mav."
164 TBe
TRe OPTIMIST 165
ition Midway
named and recently completed In- the
Mangels Company, who control the Whipand this year had two Cater})illars andBIG El.r Wheels, Two Carousselles, be-
sides the Whip. The Tumble Bug, TheButterfly, The Seaplane and several
miniature rides. The photograph onthis page gives a general bird's-eye viewof the Jones Exposition Shows at Ed-monton, Alberta, Canada in July this
year.
Business must be good up in Iowa as is
evident from the following letter whichwe received from our old friend EobertHughev.ELI BRIDGE COMPANY,Mr. Ben 0. Koodhouse,Jacksonville, 111.
Dear Sir and Friend
:
The weather man was good to us last
week and as a consequence we had goodbusiness. The two rides earned over
$900.00 during the Fair and we are nowand it has l)een raininsr mostat
of the day but we unloaded betweenshowers. I notice that the weather re-
port for tomorrow is fair, with fair
weather for the remainder of the weekI look for large crowds and the groundswill l>e in better shape for they were get-
ting dusty.
1 am now l)ooked at Fairs up to the
week of Soj)tcmb('r 24th and am negotiat-
ing with a Fair and Fall Festival for that
week and thought I might play one or
two more small towns after the Fairs if
the weather remained good, and will
probably ship in and store about October1st to 10th. I do not think I will play
any more in Chicago this season. I will
sure be glad if you can come up to Chi-
cago and visit with us a while this Fall
and will be glad to have you visit us
while in operation if you can, if not, then
any time you can get away will be fine
—
there are a lot of ride men in and aroundChicago now.
I noticed the reprint of Mr. Crab-
tree's Editorial in The Billboard andwas very much impressed with the edi-
torial when I read it in The OPTIMIST.I must close this letter now as 1 have
more letters to write yet tonight. Withbest wishes, I remain.
Yours very truly,
ROBERT HUGHEY.
Optimist Readers will be interested to
know that the Sales Manager's Assistant
no longer bears the title of "Miss." YesSylvia N. Piper has joined the married
folks Club and since Sunday September9th, VJ23 bears the name of ^Irs. Clarence
Meyer. She still retains her position in
the BIG ELI OFFICE so instead of
losing a member of the BKJ ELI Faniily
we have added a Brother-in-law. Will,
anyway Sylvia has our l)est wishes.
(By the Kditor Emeritus)
Suj)crintenden( Sullivan has contri-
buted to the efficiency of the BIG ELIi-'actory l)y adding a private office. WhenContractor Chuniley asked Sullivan bowhe wanted it built. Sullivan replied,
"Let there be light."" And there is light
because the office has nine windows andone glass door.
166 TKe OPTIMIST October 1923
Tuesday, August 28ih, we, (Mother
Sullivan and I), packed our suit-cases,
got in the old Buick, which usually
carries us on our vacation trips, and
Leta, (our daughter), drove us to Rood-
house, 24 miles, where we boarded the
train for St. Louis and Oklahoma. In
the meantime having notified my sister,
Mrs. Arrie Martin, who occasionally
writes the Jimmie Flaherty Stories for
the OPTIMIST, that we were coming.
At St. Louis we decided not to travel at
night hut take the morning fast train on
the Frisco, having a day light ride thru
the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.
While we had both travelled this road
many times by train it had always been
in the night. We had travelled it by
auto two years ago, going down via
Kansas City and coming back thru the
Ozarks from Springfield, Missouri to St.
Louis, and now we wanted to travel it in
day light on a fast train.
We would look out the window and
often note alongside of the railroad the
road we had travelled in the automobile
and mention the many incidents of the
trip. We would whiz thru the small
towns at a great speed until finally the
train passed out of the State and to
Vinita, Oklahoma, 361 miles in 13 hours
time, and we were tired enough to spend
the night in Vinita.
In the morning we boarded a fast
Katy Train which only made two stops
before reaching Muskogee. We noticed
on all sides evidence of the great growth
of Muskogee since our last trip there
two years ago. Although at the present
time the city is very much depressed, the
drought early in the summer having cut
the faimers' crops all short, the corn and
cotton both being very light but the late
rains have brouglit out the crop of wild
prairie liay and it is a splendid crop and
good price. But Muskogee is largely an
oil city and tlie recent shut down in the
oil business to reduce the surplus andprevent a further deelinc in tlie price of
oil and gasoline, has hit the city very
hard. The refineries are all shut down
and many wells only pumping once a
week.
It is not necessary to say that we wereroyally entertained and although the
weather in Oklahoma was much warmerthan at home, the nights were cool, with
a good breeze, delightful for rest andsleep. W^e were driven about the city
and out in the country and saw manyfamiliar sights and many that were not
familiar. The old Agency Hill, a land
maik in that countrv when all belonged
to Indians long before Oklahoma State
was thought of, has now been converted
into a memorial park named "HonorHeights," for the soldier boys, and manybeautiful buildings have been erected for
them. And it is a wonderful drive along
a winding road until we reached the
summit and then down another windingroad on the opposite side to the bathing
beach and lake.
We also drove on to Spaulding Bridge
across the Arkansas Eiver. That won-derful stream which at times the water
almost all sinks away in the sand and at
other times it is a raging torrent over-
flowing its banks and all the adjacent
country.
Just where all that water goes at times
is a mystery, many people thinking there
is an underground stream and the water
sinks down thru the sand and then conies
up in multiplied thousands of springs
farther down thru Arkansas, and thev
may be right—-it sounds reasonable.
After a delightful visit we turned our
faces homeward, this time coming via
the Katy Railroad to Parsons, Kansas,
where we staved all niirht. Next morn-ing we took a fast train into Kansas Citv.
Leaving Kansas City at 5:15 on a fast
Wabash Train we were only a few miles
out when a 2:reat storm cloud loomed in
the North and as we were traveling
Northeast it looked as though we would
soon run into it. The edge of this cloud
did pass over the train and it looked like
a huge umbrella over-shadowing the
train. Finally about sixty miles out of
Kansas Citv we ran into torrents of rain.
Tlie OPTIMIST 167
hail, tliinuler and lightning and darkness
all at once. I remarked tn Ma Sullivan
that it took nerve to drive a fast heavy
train into sui-h a cloud as that where it
was impossible to see the track ahead
thru all that down-pour of water.
But the engineer drove right on until
the first stop at CarroUton, Missouri, G8
miles out of Kansas City. And then to
Mol)erly, the division point, and here it
was only raining gently. Passengers;
changed and cars were switched in and
out and our train sped on thru Hannibal,
200 miles, raining all the way; another
short stop here aiul we crossed the
mighty Mississippi Iviver and sped to
Jacksonville, 208 miles, and over 200
miles of rain and the train was only 25
minutes late.
Little do we think when we are riding
the average heavy night fast trains, of
the steady hands and eagle eyes at the
throttle carrying us safely on.
Imagine our surprise on alighting at
1 :2o a. m. to find Lee and Leta our son
and daughter, at the train with the car
waiting for us.
Leaving Illinois the cornfields, pas-
tures, foliage on the trees, in fact, with
the splendid rains everything was green
except the ploughed fields. Getting
down to the Ozarks we noted tiie changeand before reaching Sjjriiigfield. .Mis-
souri, we found the corn I)eing cut in
the fields, dry and ripe. Further downthe cotton plants were green from the
late rains but old planters told us it wastoo late to make any new cotton bolls,
iiut this was only one dry summer in
Oklahoma out of many good years in the
farming district. What a change fromthe first time many years ago that I
crossed Oklahoma while it was peopled
l)y Indians and not a farm in sigjit andvery little of anything else but Indians'
ponies and dry prairie.
.\nd now it is a great oil producingState, also farming and mining, and the
wonderful cities that have grown upthere in a few years. No wonder the
citizens of Oklahoma have made that
State what it is, as they are progressive
people from all other States who wentto Oklahoma to work off their enthusi-
asm and built a great commonwealth as
a result. All honor to her wonderful
men and women.Au T?evoir,
Prominent Official of Hawaii visits Eli Bridge Co.
^fr. E. J. Fernandez of Honolulu,
Hawaii, owner of an outdoor amusementorganization including a BIG ELI Wheelwhile en route from San Francisco to
New York, wired the ELI BRmGFCOMPANY from Kansas City that he
would arrive in Jacksonville SundaVmorning August 10th for a brief visit
with the ELI BRIDGE COMPANY.^ir. Fernandez arrived early Sundaymorning and spent the entire time at
the plant of the ELI BR1I)(;E COM-PANY with Mr. Lee A. Sullivan. Mr.
item of repairs and replacements which
he ordered for his BIG ELI was carried
in stock and ready for shiinnent. Owingto the fact that Hawaii is quite a distance
from the home of the BIG ELI and the
matter of transportation is quite an item
Mr. Fernandez gave quite a large order,
and this order was packed for export
Khii)ment on ^londay and shipped to
him at Honolulu on Tuesday. Mr. Fer-
uaudes was (|uite an interesting gentle-
man to talk with. In speaking of his
country Mr. Fernandez stated that while
Fernandez was very much surprised at he operated the only outdoor amusement
the magnitude of ELI BRIDGE COM- enterprise on the Islands the numberPANY Plant, and its e(iui|)ment and was and size of towns and cities were suffi-
especially grateful to know that every cient to support tlie business twelve
168 TBe OPTIMIST October 1923
months in the year. His itinerary con-
sists of cities over 5,000 inhabitants and
consumes one year from the time he fills
an engagement in Honolulu until he re-
turns to that City. In conversation with
Mr. Sullivan, Mr, Fernandez told manyinteresting things and one thing in par-
ticular that he mentioned was the fact
that there were no snakes on the islands.
Mr. Fernandez is a Legislator, but despite
that fact, he informed Mr. Sullivan that
it required five years of his time before
it was possible for them to enact legisla-
tion that would allow him to import a
large Python snake. This snake was
aljout twenty-seven feet long.
^Ir. Fernandez is very prominent in
political circles in the Islands, having
been in the legislature there for somefourteen vears and still holds an office.
Visiting the S. W,
On Wednesday evening, August 22nd,
nine employees of the BIG ELI Factory,
Lee Sullivan, Jack Prewitt, Charles Kahl,
Jesse Smith, Frank Vannier, Bill Lazen-
by. Bob March, Chas. Riggs and Ben
Roodhouse left the BIG ELI Factory at
5:30 p. m. for Beardstown, Illinois to
visit the S. W. Brundage Shows playing
the American Legion Celebration and
Fish Fry in that City week of August
20th to 25th. We visited the Brundage
shows at the invitation of Proprietor S.
W. Brundage and Charles Cohen, Man-
ager of the BIG ELI Wheel.
Arriving in Beardstown at 6 :30 p. m.
we found the Brundage Shows located
on the streets around the square and ad-
jacent business portion of the City. All
rides, shows and concessions were well
located considering the advantages of
the streets and the main business part of
the City available for the Company.
The Brundage Shows use as their
motto "We comply with the pure Show
laws" and they have a right to this motto
as the show is clean in every respect.
A real up-to-date amusement Companyfurnishing clean amusements to the pub-
lic.
S. W. Brundage is proprietor and gen-
eral manager. D. G. Howard, Secretary-
Treasurer. Mike Clark, General Agent.
All are congenial gentlemen desiring for
their patrons and friends wholesome
amusement and entertainment.
Six rides with this Company consist
of BIG ELI No. 5, specially decorated
with arch-M'ay and entrance, managed by
Charles Cohen and operated by Larry
Brundage Shows
McCann. This Wheel is in good condi-
tion, well lighted and nice appearing.
The three-abreast Carry-us-all with a
large organ is in fine condition and un-
der the management of Ellsworth Mc-
Afee. The Mangels Whip operates nicely
and gets its share of the business. Theseaplane is a special machine built by
Mr. Brundage after his own design. It
is a smooth running ride, well lighted
and properly managed. The Whip and
Seaplane are both managed by Mr. B.
B. Brundage. The Fairy Swings for the
kiddies is managed by Mr. H. Helfferich
and is a popular attraction with the little
folks. The Xew Caterpillar ride is a
money getter and was very popular amongpatrons of the Mid-way at Beardstown.
Ten Shows include the following:
Big water show with five performers,
ten-in-one, illusion show, clown alley,
motordrome, King Tut's tomb. Crazy
House, Penny Arcade and Athletic
Show. Thirty concessions completes the
mid-way. The boys from the BIG ELIFactory certainly had a splendid time
and consider Mr. Brundage and his asso-
ciates real hosts for a trip of this kind.
This is one of the large clean amuse-
ment companies and their list of cele-
bration and Fair dates indicate their
popularity in the Central West. They
are booked to play Jacksonville, Illinois
week of September 24th to 29th, and by
the time this issue of the OPTI^IIST is
in the hands of our readers, the Brund-
age Shows will have visited the home
City of BIG ELI Wheels.
TEe OPTIMIST 169
News From the HI(i KLI Faeloi7Miss T^cta Sullivan while on her vaca- Wi'slcv Phillips, son-in-law of .laint-s
tion made an extiMnh'tl tour of tin- \)r\u- Dunham, our landscape artist, is now a
cipal cities of (Jreono County, inchulin*; nuMiiher of the BKi KM Family work-
Koodhouse, Illinois. in»r in the asseml)ly department.
Charles HauMcr an<l the evidence
In our Septemher edition of the
Ol'TlMIS'l' in -News From the Factory"
We made mention of the fact that Charles
Hauser, MKi I'.IJ truck driver, was takinj;
his vacation. The ])hotoirrapli on this
j)a<re was f.Mven to us hy .Mr. Hauser
and we have shown this to several mem-hers of the BKJ KM Hunch and wish
to state that oj)inion is ahout ec|ually
divided as to how Mr. Ilau«er caufxht
these fish. However. -Mr. Hauser liaii
a pre|)onderanee of circumstantial evi-
dence re<fardinf; this fi-^h story. Mr.
Hauser s|)ent his vacation at .Matanzas
Heach on the Illinoi.«i River and reports
a nice time with |)lenty of fish as shownin the aecomj)anyin;; j)liotoirra|)h. Xo, wedidn't get any of the fish. (Kditor).
Mr. Charles Ri<;<rs, wlio runs the Itii;
drill press for the EM BHIDIJK COM-I'.WY, informs u.s that his son who was
injured several weeks aj;o hy hein«;
struck with a golf cluh in the hand.s of
a playmate has satisfactorily recovered.
The young Mr. Higgs is to he congratu-
lated on the narrow escape from a more.serious injury.
Miss Helen Ogle, our efficient steno-
grapher, took her vacation during the
month of .\ugust and spent the time in
Kansas City. Miss Ogh* returned via a
Chevrolet in eomjmny with her aunt and
reports a very pleasant trip from Kansas
(itv l»ack to .Tack.sonville.
170 TKe OPTIMIST October 1923
UNDER THE CRAB-TREE
One way to Stop the War—Draft every
member of the United States Congress;
compel every man in the United States
to work for $30.00 per month. The war
will be over by 11:15 A. M. That will
give lis 15 minutes to get back home in
time for dinner.
Dad Wilson says his farm is so poor
that it wouldn't rust a nail.
A man who will not let his son go to
see a Circus is mean enough to steal flies
from a blind spider.
We see everything has been settled
now about the coal strike but the in-
crease in price, we will find tliat out all
right.
We have just got rid of another Life
Insurance Agent—boy, hand me that
catalog of fire arms.
The grave of Pocahontas has been
opened and found unoccupied. It seems
just impossible for some women to stay
at home.
Henry Ford says he would not give
$50.00 for all the art in the world. That
makes it 50-50 for no Artist would give
$50.00 for all the Fords in the world.
The Editor believes that children ought
to be taught to mind the same Summerthey are told.
Didn't know he had been away—
A
traveler who had stopped in Springfield,
Illinois was being piloted along the route
by a loquacious l)ut somewhat tiresome
cab driver who insisted on regaling himwith local news of little interest to
strangers. As they passed one house
the Jehu pointed the ])utt of his whip
at it and remarked "Lincoln's home."
"Is that so, where has lie been?" return-
ed the traveler bored but still polite.
Our idea of Justice—A book agent
trying to sell a life insurance agent a
book on "How to overcome timidity."
A man can make more money peddling
peanuts to Pallljearers in a graveyard
than he can jiromoting a prize fight in
^lontana.
We note that some of the Xations of
Europe are not paying much attention
to the League of Xotions or Plague of
Nations and that is just what 16,152,200
voters in the United States thought in
1920.
Statistically Speaking—A man wentinto Cohen's Book Store and asked,
"Have you a copy of 'Who's Who andWhat's What' by Jerome K. Jerome?"Cohen replied, "Xo, Sir, l)ut ve got
'Who's He and Yat'i
street."
He Got,' l)y Brad-
A gentleman of the Hebrew extrac-
tion was informing his friends about the
universality of the Jews in which hesaid, "Why, you find them in every busi-
ness and in every countr}\" His friend
remarked, "Well, I do not know about
that, we do not have anv Jews at the
North Pole."
Hebrew: "Veil, how about that fel-
low, Iceberg, he ain't a Presbvterian, is
he?"
What the Editor of the OPTIMISTwould like to know is, what has the Flap-
pers done Mith all that time they saved
l)V hol)bing (heir liair
Henry Ford says he wants, to abolish
all poverty in the world. Well, all we've
got to say is, that he certainly made a
tramp out of the Editor.
Crabtree—Everybody knows me
TTie OPTIMIST 171
ELI POWER UNIT
It is not so much what the Builders claim for the ELI Power Unit,
but what men say who have bought the ELI Power Unit and have tested
it under every and all conditions.
Another point to be taken under consideration is that this Power
Unit was designed and built especially for operating RIDING DE\'ICES.
Do not experiment; we have done that.
Let us tell you about it. Write for details.
Yours for Service,
ELI BRIDGE COMPANY800 Case Avenue Jaeksonville, Illinois
mUNrvEflsrnr of illinos-urbana
3 01 12 077849849
Ring True
Don't ]je what you ain't,
Jes' be what you is;
If you is not what you am,
Then you am not what you is.
If you're Just a little tadpole.
Don't try to be a frog;
If you're just the tail,
Don't try to wag the dog.
You can always pass the plate.
If you can't exhort and preach.
If you're just a little pebble,
Don't try to be the beach.
Don't be what vou ain't,
Jes" be what you is.
For tlie man who plays it square^
Is a-goin' to get "his."
Our Last Line
And that's all of it
HI 3 I 1 C 5][a][c cizi c [5)